Never Give Up!

Bill Hybels tells about an interesting experience after a baptism service in their church. He writes: “I bumped into a woman in the stairwell who was crying. I thought this was a little odd, since the service was so joyful. I asked her if she was all right. She said, ‘No, I’m struggling.’ She said, ‘My mom was baptized today. I prayed for her every day for almost 20 years. The reason I’m crying is because I came this close to giving up on her. At the 5-year mark I said, “Who needs this? God isn’t listening.” At the 10-year mark I said, “Why am I wasting my breath?” At the 15-year mark I said, “This is absurd.” At the 19-year mark I said, “I’m just a fool.” But I just kept trying, kept praying. Even with weak faith I kept praying. Then she gave her life to Christ, and she was baptized today. I will never doubt the power of prayer again.”

Jesus reminds us in Luke 18:1-8 that we should always pray and not give up.  In the parable of the persistent widow, we are reminded that if an ungodly judge will be moved to action by a persistent plea, how much more our loving God will bring justice to those who cry out to him day and night.  The question is not, “Will God answer our prayers?”  The question is, “Do we have enough faith to ask persistently until the answer comes?”

This week we will continue in the series, Believing in God but Living as If He Doesn’t Exist.  We will explore how we claim to believe in prayer but our actions say otherwise because we rarely pray.

See you Sunday,
Pastor Jeff